Tag: Daily Show

It can be confusing to follow the ongoing WGA strike, what with all the picketing, accusations from both sides, and rampant speculation about whether Ellen DeGeneres is a traitor or just trapped in a rock-versus-hard-place career conundrum. Here, striking staffers from “The Daily Show” helpfully explain their side of the issue.

What a difference a (little more than a) year makes! Why, it was just last September when Jon Stewart sat down for tea and Twinkies with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for a pillowy-soft chat about Musharraf’s book, “In the Line of Fire.”

Funny how, in the wake of any national disaster these days, news analysts set about explaining the latest disaster according to their pet political interests. Take the recent California wildfires, for example, and watch what Jon Stewart discovers about different stations’ diverse interpretations of what the fires really mean.

Stephen Colbert is a master of mocking the ridiculous and predictable posturing of overly rehearsed candidates as they announce their intention to run. During his book tour, for example, he has been known to interrupt interviewers to say he’s unable to discuss his campaign intentions, and then there was this surprise appearance on “The Daily Show.”

Yeah, so it sounded like a great idea—raise taxes on cigarettes in order to fund children’s health care initiatives—but apparently President Bush didn’t think so, as he hit Congress’ proposed SCHIP reauthorization bill with the veto stick on Wednesday. Thankfully, we have Jon Stewart to help us vent our collective frustration through the magic of satire.

Chris Matthews got much more than he bargained for when he peddled his new book, “Life’s a Campaign,” on “The Daily Show.” In this clip, Jon Stewart savages the book, calling it both “a recipe for sadness” and a “self-hurt book” and making not-at-all-subtle references to Machiavelli and fascism. Fireworks ensue.

The former president tells Jon Stewart about his new book, his wife’s quest to get back to “the best public housing in America,” why he might slit his throat if she’s successful, and how naps can save our democracy.

Boy, has it ever been a tough week to be Gen. David Petraeus! First he had to face the congressional firing squad with only a flimsy array of stats to substantiate his insistent refrain, delivered in wooden monotone, that the “surge” in Iraq just might, maybe, someday, sort of work.

“The Daily Show,” on the scene in Iraq, goes to town on the ridiculous yet timelessly entertaining assertion of Rep. Mike Pence that a particularly deadly Baghdad market he visited was “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.”

Beginning Monday, “The Daily Show” will air a series of reports from Iraq—the real Iraq—taped during a USO outing by “senior military analyst” and former decorated Marine Maj. Rob Riggle (pictured). Along with a field producer and writer for the show, Riggle ditched the green screen for a five-day stint titled “Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq.”

The “Daily Show” host challenges proto-hawk and champion name-caller William Kristol on the vitriol of Iraq war enthusiasts: “But you said Sunni and Shia would get along. You’ve said a lot of things that, if we went back and picked through, I could say to you—should I call you terrible names? No, of course not. You’re just a simple fellow who devised a plan that the president executed. ... ”

This week, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney raised eyebrows when he compared his five sons’ work on the Romney-for-Prez campaign to military service on behalf of the country. Here, Jon Stewart takes a look at the Romneys’ work on “The Five Brothers Bus”—sending “Senior Campaign Embedder” Aasif Mandvi to report from the dangerous front lines ... of Iowa.

Two envoys from the notoriously press-eschewing Bush administration, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, were seen (gasp!) answering questions on television ... on the same day! “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart compares this highly improbable occurrence to “a giant squid having sex with Bigfoot as the ghost of Jim Morrison claps giddily.” Via Crooks and Liars

“The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart and John Oliver take down the most recent Democratic disappointment: the Senate’s all-night session. Oliver, political theater critic for the show, gives his most scathing review to date.

Jon Stewart charts the administration’s “been there, done that, be back later” approach to fighting the war in Iraq. Plus a look back on operational nomenclature, the September surprise and Ted Koppel’s giant head.

The Republican Party’s only anti-war candidate (so far) tells Jon Stewart it’s the other candidates who have lost touch with conservative values. As Stewart points out, that could be a problem: “You appear to have consistent, principled integrity. Uh ... Americans don’t usually go for that.”

Jon Stewart managed to get through an entire interview with Al Gore without asking if he’s going to run for president. The result is a thoughtful conversation on the state of media and the assault on reason.

According to the latest Pew Research survey, the most knowledgeable Americans are regular viewers of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” and avid newspaper readers. At the other end of the spectrum are viewers of Fox News and morning shows.

Jon Stewart did not pull his punches with recent guest John McCain in what was more of a showdown than an interview. At one point, the audience applauded Stewart and McCain said wryly, “I think I know whose side they’re on.” The host replied: “They’re on America’s side, because they’re patriots.”

The White House is having trouble finding someone to be the new “war czar,” and it has apparently decided the problem is the name. The position will now be called “execution manager.” Is it just us, or has this administration lost its flair for snazzy Orwellian lingo? Bonus: Jon Stewart catches Bush in a lie obstruction of the truth.

Jon Stewart swings away at the Wolfowitz scandal: “Last week it was disclosed Wolfowitz had used his influence to get a promotion and a raise for his longtime paramour, World Bank employee Shaha Ali Riza—considered to be a foremost expert on the Middle East. Which means—you know what they say—opposites attract.”

“The Daily Show” takes a trip back in time to chart CNN legal pundit Nancy Grace’s relentless coverage of the Duke lacrosse case, sampling from her various contradictory, hyperbolic, graphic and biased reports over the last year. Make sure to catch what happened on her show the day the charges were dropped.

Jon Stewart and John Oliver riff on the administration’s plan to empower a war czar. Oliver explains that the position will occupy the gap between commander in chief, secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In other words: the blame.

George W. Bush is upset with the Democrats for wanting to withdraw from Iraq just when we’ve finally started to make progress. Just starting? The president has been citing “progress” in Iraq for years now, and Jon Stewart has the clips to prove it.

John Oliver delivers this hysterical report on the nation of Israel. At one point the “Daily Show” reporter gives the Israeli ambassador a chance to clear the air: “There is a nasty conspiracy theory going around that your country is run by Jews—a cabal of Jews who set the domestic agenda and run the media. Would you like to put that to rest now?”

Jon Stewart pokes fun at the Democrats after a recent press conference that did little to assuage the concern that they don’t entirely have their stuff together. Say what you will about the Republicans, they know how to work a talking point. Speaking of which, don’t miss Dick Cheney’s entrance music at the end of the clip.

This week, our selection of Truthdig-flavored videos includes a preview of Fox’s answer to “The Daily Show”; The Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines speaking about artistic courage to the ACLU; and Chris Hedges laying a smackdown to Colbert and the Christian right.

This week our selection of Truthdig-flavored videos includes a shocking short documentary on the evangelical war on evolution; a bird’s-eye view of perhaps the first ever avatar-attended virtual peace rally; and a troubling home movie of a U.S. Humvee engaging in bumper-car action in Baghdad.

“The Daily Show” catches up with Ralph Nader upon the limited theatrical release of “An Unreasonable Man,” a biopic about the crusading, perennial third-party candidate. Does he intend to siphon votes away from Clinton/Obama? Watch to find out.

The Washington Post’s Rajiv Chandrasekaran tells Jon Stewart that while many of Bush’s Iraq blunders have been pored over extensively, the story of American corruption and incompetence in the Green Zone has been largely ignored—from the 21-year-old former ice cream vendor who was sent to reform the Interior Ministry to the questioning of aspiring imperialists as to whether they had voted for Bush.

Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol stopped by “The Daily Show” for a friendly chat about all of Bush’s wonderful achievements in Iraq and the war on terror. Whoops! Stewart took Kristol apart, swatting down one exhausted talking point after another as it flew across the desk.